Subject-wise Trend of Previous Years Prelims Questions

In this post, you will find the subject-wise trend of previous years IAS Prelims GS paper questions. The trends are presented in tabular as well as graphical format for easy understanding. I am sure you will find it useful.

Subject-wise Trend of Previous Years Prelims GS Paper-1 Questions

Subject→

Year↓

Hist-ory

Geogr-aphy

Econ-omy

Science & Tech

Polity

Enviro-nment

Current Affairs & GK

2018

21

10

14

10

11

11

23

2017

13

10

11

11

21

6

28

2016

15

7

18

8

7

18

27

2015

14

14

13

7

13

10

29

2014

16

14

11

15

10

12

22

Now let us see a graphical depiction of the subject-wise GS Paper-1 questions asked in IAS Prelims.

From the above table and image, the following points are clear:

Maximum questions in the Prelims GS Paper-1 in the last 5 years have been current affairs & general awareness based. At least 20 current affairs questions have been asked by UPSC every year in the last 5 years. This should not be a surprise since current affairs is the most important topic from Prelims viewpoint.

History is the 2nd most important topic and at least 10-15 questions on Indian History are asked every year in the IAS Prelims. Within the History topic, maximum questions are based on Modern History followed by Ancient History and the least number of questions are asked on Medieval History. Candidates should also expect 3-6 questions on Art & Culture which have been included in the History segment above.

Except for Science and Technology, the remaining topics i.e. Geography, Economy, Polity and Environment have received almost equal importance over the years. On an average 10 questions from these topics have been asked by UPSC every year.

The number of questions on Science and Tech is slightly on the lower side when compared to other subjects.

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